Meselech Seyoum
Ethiopian Rainwater Harvesting Association (EHRA) Secretariat, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Water is a finite and limited resource upon which human well-being and socio-economic development depend. Given its limited availability and importance, efficient and effective use of water resources is necessary for sustainable economic and social development. Access to water of adequate quality and quantity is a fundamental human need and recognised as a basic human right.
Water and water development are irretrievably connected with land use management, rural and urban settlements, as well as agricultural and industrial development. This calls for the necessity to integrate water management with these sectors in ways, which are to the best interests of a nation and its people. Such integrated water management are, in turn, most readily achieved by recognising the need for efficient management at the lowest appropriate level, and that water development decisions are best made in acknowledgement of the real value of the water (UNDP 1990; DANIDA 1991; ICWE 1992).
Freshwater resources have been dwindling over the years, both in terms of quality and quantity, while the demand for high quality water has been steadily increasing. Studies carried out on a global basis indicate that only a small percentage of the available water is of good enough quality for human use. As an element of social and industrial development, water use has increased dramatically in importance. So, not only do we have increased water use due to population increases, but also an increased importance of water as a key determinant of development. In the past fifty years, the world's population has doubled, as did the per capita water consumption rate from about 400 m3/year to about 800 m3/year (Engelman and Le Roy 1993).
The countries of Africa, however, have been experiencing an ever-growing pressure on their available water resources, with increasing demand and costs, for agricultural, domestic and industrial consumption. Of the 19 countries around the world currently classified as water-stressed, more are in Africa than in any other continent. In the African context, natural occurrences of hazards such as drought, desertification, and climate change as well as influences of human activities like agriculture, population growth, industrial development, and land use changes are considered to constitute the major causes of the continuing deterioration of freshwater resources. These pressures have caused both environmental deterioration (including pollution of freshwater systems) and overexploitation of important water catchments, resulting in lowered groundwater levels.
Falkenmark et al. (1990) have proposed a water scarcity index based on an approximate minimum level of water required per capita to maintain an adequate quality of life in a moderately developed country. One hundred litres per person per day is considered to be the minimum for basic household needs to maintain good health in this index. The experience of moderately developed and water efficient countries shows that roughly 5 to 20 times this amount tends to be needed to satisfy the requirements of agriculture, industry and energy production. On the basis of these premises, a country whose renewable freshwater resource availability on an annual per capita basis exceeds 1700 m3 will suffer only occasional or local water shortages. When freshwater availability falls below 1000 m3/person per year, countries will be likely to experience a chronic water scarcity in which the lack of water begins to hamper economic development and human health and well-being. When renewable water supplies fall below 500 m3/person per year, countries will be likely to experience absolute scarcity. Using Falkenmark's definition, the situation in African countries with regard to water scarcity shows that six African countries were already in a position of water scarcity or water stress in 1990. This will increase to 16 by 2025. Of 20 African countries that have faced food emergencies in recent years, half are either stressed by water shortages or are projected to fall into the stress category by 2025 (Engelman and Le Roy 1993).
Water stress has several repercussions. Socially, human health is at risk, and water-related conflicts are imminent. Economically, the cost of production and delivery of a unit quantity of water has escalated, thus diverting investments from other productive areas. Environmentally, sustainability of the ecological systems is threatened by overexploitation or pollution. Some water-related problems are local, but others are regional. Most of the water systems in Africa that are able to endure marked seasonality in climate are international, while local water sources are generally prone to drought. Because nearly two-thirds of the continent is arid to semi-arid, poverty and insufficient agricultural production put pressure on freshwater management almost across the continent. A large proportion of Africa's population is affected by water shortages for domestic use.
Currently, responses to water stress risks range from traditional coping strategies practised by individual families to global initiatives of networking, discussion forums, research and training. International organisations have played a major part in catalysing development in the water-resource sector, creating awareness and focusing sharply on the problems and challenges in the sector by contributing funds; providing technical assistance and training; and facilitating research, networking, and information dissemination. In Africa, enhanced awareness of the problems, challenges, and opportunities in the sector have been accomplished to some extent through international conferences, from which workshop proceedings, protocols, and binding statements have been produced to guide efforts of mitigating water scarcity.
Some of the key water resource management issues on which the contemporary research and development endeavours to address the prevailing problems have been focused are (UNEP/IETC 1998a):
Status of water resource potentials and constraints in Ethiopia—Should we bother?
The natural resource bases of Ethiopia seem to have a potential of supporting a far greater number of population. Ethiopia's geographic location and its natural endowment of favourable climate have provided it with a relatively higher rainfall in the region. The country's annual surface runoff is estimated to about 122 billion m3 forming 12 major river basins, much of which are, however, carried away across the borders by trans-boundary rivers. By virtue of its mountainous topography and higher altitudes relative to the surrounding areas, Ethiopia is usually referred to as the ‘water tower’ of North and East Africa. Only a little part of its ground water potential, estimated at 2.9 billion m3, is exploited (EWRMP 2000). Ethiopia also has an irrigation potential of about 3.5 million hectare, while its hydropower potential stands 2nd in Africa. All these imply availability of adequate level of water resource base, which, with optimum development, is capable of providing well beyond the food, water supply, energy and export requirements of Ethiopia (EWRMP 2000).
Nevertheless,
use of these water resources to meet the socio-economic needs of the Ethiopian
people is very limited due to various constraints. The major limitation lies in
the uneven distributions and mismatch of the available water resources with
respect to the agro-ecological and settlement patterns
in the country. Moreover, despite Ethiopia's plenty annual rainfall on the
aggregate, it falls either too early or too late with a characteristic high
intra- and inter-annual variation in quantity as well as in terms of the spatial
and temporal distributions of the seasonal rainfall.
Annual
rainfall in the country ranges between 2700 mm in the south-western highlands
and less than 200 mm in some parts of the northern and south-eastern lowlands
with a further decrease to 100 mm in the north-eastern lowlands. The southern,
central, eastern and southern highlands of the country have a bi-modal rainfall
pattern while the south-western and eastern areas are characterised by a
mono-modal rainfall. Ethiopia has five major agro-climatic zones, which have
broadly defined on the basis of altitude ranges, viz. Bereha,
Kolla, Weyna-Dega, Dega and Wurch
(Hurni 1986). Because of the favourable climate and absence of many tropical
diseases, the highlands of Ethiopia are favoured for settlement. The Ethiopian
highlands (areas above 1500 metres above sea level, masl) harbour about 88% of
the human and 65% of the livestock population (Hurni 1986).
As the population density in the highland areas continued to increase more and more marginal lands were put under cultivation which eventually resulted in the severe degradation of the agro-ecological resource bases and declining agricultural production. Consequently, population expansion increased towards the extensive lowland (arid and semi-arid) areas. Unfortunately, these areas are usually constrained by, among other things, shortage of rainfall for optimum agricultural production. This calls for the use of suitable technologies for improved and sustainable agricultural production (MOA 2001). Available information indicates that nearly 70% of the total arable land in Ethiopia receives annual rainfall of less than 750 mm. The areas with annual rainfall of 500–750 mm are believed to support optimum level of agricultural activities, if the annual rainfall distribution is undisturbed and proper land management is applied. As of late, however, the annual rainfall distribution of most parts of Ethiopia, including the highlands, is not only lacking in uniformity but also highly unpredictable in terms of inter-annual variations (Hurni 1986). Therefore, overcoming the limitations of these arid and semi-arid areas and making good use of the vast agricultural potential under the Ethiopian context, is a necessity rather than choice, which needs for appropriate intervention to address the prevailing constraints.
On the other hand, research findings and practices in many other countries and traditional farming practices suggest possibilities for making a good use of areas with annual rainfalls as low as 200 mm. This is achieved through applications of different technologies that can improve efficiency of moisture utilisation, which, if used at the right setting, can improve situations. These include, among other things, improved water control and rainwater harvesting. For the risk-prone areas such as those affected by recurrent drought, the main opportunities for improving water use include small-scale irrigation, rainwater harvesting and, above all, the better use of available moisture in the rainfed farming systems on which the bulk of farmers continue to depend (Hurni 1986).
Rainwater harvesting, in a broad sense, is the collection of the raindrops/runoff for domestic consumption and/or food production purposes, which will otherwise cause soil erosion. It could also be described as an act of maximising utilisation of the available rainfall by making use of different techniques. In fact, rainwater harvesting practices and its recognition as an alternative option to supplement other water sources is not new in Ethiopia.
The history of rainwater harvesting practices in Ethiopia dates back as early as 560 BC, during the Axumite Kingdom. In those days, rainwater was harvested and stored in ponds for agriculture and water supply purposes, which are evidenced with documented literatures and visual observations on the remains of ponds that were once used for irrigation during that period. Even these days, there are several traditional rainwater-harvesting technologies in Ethiopia, which have been used by communities in areas of water shortage. For many traditional communities in rural areas where natural sources of water are lacking, collection of rainwater from pits on rock outcrops and excavated ponds are common practices. In many semi-arid lowland areas of Ethiopia, where rainfall is not adequate for crop growth, farmers use runoff irrigation as a source of lifesaving irrigation supplies.
Promotion and application of rainwater-harvesting techniques as alternative interventions to address water scarcity in Ethiopia were started through government-initiated soil and water conservation programmes. It was started as a response to the 1971–74 drought with the introduction of food-for-work (FFW) programmes, which were intended to generate employment opportunities to the people affected by the drought. The earlier rainwater harvesting activities included, among others, construction of ponds, micro-dams, bunds, and terraces in most parts of the drought affected areas in Tigray, Wello and Hararghe regions (Kebede 1995).
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in IRDPs and the water sector in many parts of the country also undertake rainwater-harvesting interventions. These interventions include conservation of rainwater by making use of physical structures and rainwater harvesting for domestic and irrigation purposes through pond and micro-dam construction and roof catchment schemes.
Despite the enormous potential of its natural resource bases and the development efforts being made by the various actors in the country, Ethiopia’s chronic food shortages and drought-induced famines have continued to be common phenomena during the past few decades (Asmare 1998). In the last two decades in particular, Ethiopia has been a regular recipient of food aid from international aid sources. One of the latest estimates shows that about 52% of the country's population are food insecure, facing chronic and recurring disaster-induced food shortages (Dagnew 2000). According to the estimation made in 1995/96, on the whole, 45.5% of the Ethiopian population are living in absolute poverty, with a relative coverage of 47 and 33% of the rural and urban populations respectively (FDRE 2000). Since about 85% of the country's population dwell in the rural areas, poverty is primarily a rural phenomenon. In Ethiopia, an average of only 25% of the population is supplied with potable water which is only 19% in rural areas; while the sanitation is in much worse condition where 92% of the population do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities (NGOs on PRSP 2002).
For Ethiopia, much of whose river waters are carried away across the borders by trans-boundary rivers, the issue of augmenting the available water resources to meet the socio-economic needs of its people becomes a necessity and timely in light of two major reasons. Firstly, attainment of food security, through enhancing the productivity of the agriculture sector, with a primary emphasis on building the productive capacity of the smallholder farmers, has been an overriding objective of the Government's Poverty Reduction and Food Security Strategies (FDRE 2000, 2002). In line with this, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has been making some efforts towards the development and promotion of rainwater-harvesting technologies as part of its extension programme. Secondly, based on the current trend of population growth, by the year 2025, Ethiopia will have nearly 120 million people and the per capita water availability will drop to about 947 m3/person per year (Falkenmark et al. 1990; UNEP/IETC 1998a). This situation, according to Falkenmark's (1990) definition of water scarcity, will make Ethiopia among the eight African countries facing water scarcity by 2025 (UNEP/IETC 1998a).
The above facts strongly support the need to focus on development and promotion of rainwater-harvesting technologies as one of the alternatives to enhance water availability for different uses including domestic water supply, sanitation and food production.
Currently, Ethiopia’s population is under serious challenges of resource depletion and the need to survive under stress. Ethiopia has to strive to improve its health and sanitation by improving the existing low level of clean water supply coverage, whilst its natural water resources have been either deteriorated beyond repair or subjected to extreme pressure due to the ever-increasing population. Ethiopia has to feed itself by enhancing its agricultural production, yet its predominantly rainfed agriculture has been constrained by the unpredictable variability of the rainfall pattern. Obviously, this situation brings about the need to maximise the use of existing or unexploited sources of freshwater. There are many modern and traditional alternative technologies for improving the utility and augmenting the supply of water being employed in various countries, but with limited application elsewhere due to the lack of information transfer among water resources managers, planners and end-users.
Given the good potential of Ethiopia's agroclimatic resources, the prevailing limitations in terms of rainfall distribution and amount could be effectively addressed if rainwater harvesting is seriously taken. Applications of rainwater-harvesting techniques, however, are constrained by the limited availability of information on the technologies and relevant traditional practices, lack of resources to conduct local specific researches on performances of available techniques and inadequate attention to avail and promote suitable extension packages to the end users. In Ethiopia, only little has emerged from research that is suitable for marginal and drought-prone areas, as few resources have been devoted to this topic, perhaps reflecting the ill perceived profitability of such investments (Ephraim 2001).
For effective and efficient utilisation of rainwater harvesting to address domestic supply and food production, all concerned should give timely and adequate attention. Among other things, such responses include:
Increased global concern about the ever-dwindling availability of freshwater resources has recognised, among other things, the need for improved management of this most precious of commodities and identification and promotion of freshwater augmentation technologies. In order to mitigate the threat from water scarcity, there have been extensive efforts and attentions given towards rainwater-harvesting technologies because of its potential as a viable option to address the problem. Accordingly, rainwater harvesting for both domestic and food production purposes, has been increasingly picking up as an alternative source of water in sub-Saharan Africa where past efforts to get water at closer locations to the needy people have been largely unsuccessful.
In connection with this, a number of associations, forums, networks and partnerships have been evolved at global, regional and country levels for the sole objective of advancing the rainwater-harvesting alternative. As of late, rainwater harvesting associations have emerged in most southern and eastern African countries in order to spearhead rainwater-harvesting activities in their respective countries. The Ethiopian Rainwater Harvesting Association (ERHA) is one of such organisations established by concerned Ethiopians as an expression of their genuine interest to take part in the efforts waged to tackle the ever-worsening threats of water scarcity.
The beginning of establishing rainwater harvesting associations in many countries of the southern and eastern Africa, traces back to the efforts of the Regional Land Management Unit (RELMA) of SIDA. RELMA’s different activities aimed at improved food security included rainwater harvesting as one of the opportunities to enhance food security in the region. By the emergence of the Kenyan Rainwater Association (KRA), being the first of its kind in the region, RELMA began to encourage and support expansion of the same trend in the other countries through organising experience sharing workshops, study tours and networking. A number of training workshops were conducted on issues of rainwater harvesting including those held in Arusha (Tanzania), Machakos (Kenya), Mbarara (Uganda) and Nazareth (Ethiopia). There were some Ethiopian participants who had the chance to attend the Arusha workshop and helped in organising a similar workshop at Nazareth in Ethiopia.
ERHA was founded on 17 December 1999 in Addis Ababa. The founding members of ERHA, totalling about 60 in number, were comprised of individuals with diverse professional backgrounds including water and related fields of engineering, agriculture, health, education, environment as well as other fields of natural and social sciences. Members are also employees of educational and research institutions, governmental organisations, NGOs industrial organisations and private engineering/consultancy firms. The Secretariat Office began its operation with a single staff member in a temporary office obtained from Water Action, a local NGO working on water development, sanitation and environmental activities.
ERHA is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit-oriented national organisation consisting of individuals with genuine interest in promotion of rainwater-harvesting technologies to address shortage of water for domestic supply and food production.
ERHA’s overall objective is to contribute towards enhanced and sustainable food security status in Ethiopia through promoting feasible rainwater-harvesting technologies for sustainable development and conservation of natural resources.
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